A Different Kind of Bouquet

Photo by Morby Photography

Photo by Morby Photography

When we found out that Malena Martinez, owner of Malena’s Vintage Boutique in West Chester, was getting married, we knew she’d fill her wedding day with gorgeous, amazingly creative details. We knew everything would be touched with her super cool style, and that we’d probably love it all. Just maybe not that we’d be so completely obsessed with one particular detail.

Look at this bouquet!

We’ve seen many a bride adorn her bouquet with a brooch or two, whether it’s colorful and enamel and just for fun, or a vintage diamond piece from a great-grandmother; a beautiful family heirloom to keep close on such an important day. And we’ve always loved the idea for either reason — it just adds such a fun, little, personal touch, and we’re all about those.

But this! This is all brooches, and we love it. For the months leading up to her September wedding to her now-husband, Josh Coyne, Malena collected the brooches, both from the usual dealers she buys from for her store, and from gifts she got from friends and customers along the way. Together, she and two girlfriends assembled the brooches into the right shape, and then she brought it to Kati Mac Florists around the corner from her shop in West Chester, where they attached the lucite wand Malena had gotten at Michaels Crafts. They also added the real green and brown leaves around the base just before the Big Day.

Malena says that she had seen similar bouquets online as she was planning her wedding, but mostly just enamel examples, with the usual fabric handles. But she thought she’d tweak the concept to make it her own: “Since my dress had no beading, I figured I could do all rhinestones!”

It’s touches like this that can make a wedding day so special and personal (and beautiful!), not just for you, but for your guests, too, and everyone who’ll share in the memories of that day with you. Are you doing anything that’s so you for your Big Day? Where’d you get your inspiration?

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